Novel Study: Code Orange

Novel Study: Journal Entry 1 pgs. 1-73

The novel I selected is called "Code Orange." My reasoning for choosing it, was that it was recommended by a friend. No new information was needed before reading the novel; instead all of it was stated or implied as reading. Mitty, the main character is telling the story, and the setting is in New York City. The setting doesn't show much significance to the story though I believe it would unfold different events later through the novel. At the beginning of the novel Mitty as been assigned a project for biology, where he need to do research on an infectious disease. Mitty not putting effort in his classes , he fears that he wont be able to finish it and would be kicked out of advance biology.
This is a problem for him because then he wouldn't be able to stare at his "love", Olivia. She is the complete opposite of Mitty, (a high achiever). For his biology paper Mitty chooses the topic of small pox. As researching in a old novel his mother owns he founds a 100 year paper envelope with scabs of a patient with small pox. Small pox is a very infectious disease and spreads like wild fire, there have been many epidemics of it through out history and Mitty just inhaled and touched remaining scabs of it. The information of the paper intrigues Mitty giving him more and more facts about smallpox. Mitty's friends paper is written about Typhoid and as he talks to Mitty, he refers to bioterrorism and I think it foreshadows about Mitty and him inhaling the scabs. The author holds my attention by building up all events to suspenseful ending.

Journal Entry 2 pgs.79-139

The events that happened between these chapters were these.
First Mitty's excessive research on small pox led him to believe that he has smallpox and showed symptoms of it. He thought it was from the scabs he inhaled before. Mitty needed the truth, and went asking questions to scientist of what he encountered, but his e-mails were forwarded to many different people. Many of them responded back with great interest, some said that there was the possibility of being infected. Mitty then went into a downward spiral, he didn't know what to do. He didn't want to infect other people if he did have smallpox, but if he told his parents he didn't want to be remembered as the one who brought smallpox in the world or set the whole world in panic. Mitty chose to commit suicide (leaving a letter of explanation behind for his family and friends) before the virus got infectious. I personally wouldn't do this because I would feel better just letting someone know instead of going through it alone. But the next day Mitty goes missing. The FBI get involved because Mitty could endanger the entire population. Only Mitty's family and closest friends (Olivia and Derek) are informed of the situation. At this point the story ends with the FBI agents talking to Olivia and Derek. I found that the main theme of the story is bioterrorism, proof of this is that many conversations the characters have amongst each other are circled around bioterrorism. One thing I really like about this book is the style
it was written. All the events fit together well and the author uses foreshadowing a few times. An example would be how Derek tells Mitty about the "wrong" people you can meet on the internet and its those people Mitty meets when he sends his e-mails.

Journal Entry 3

The climax of the story puts a twist in the novel.
Though the events that lead up to the climax are these. Mitty actually did not commit suicide but was taken hostage by a group of people claiming they were part of a health organization. They kept Mitty hostage in a basement for a few days. The basement was described dirty and worn out, it must of been outside of New York because space in the city would not be wasted like that. It was very difficult for Mitty to see in there because it was lighten by a 12 WATT bulb which wasn’t always turned on. Two men were keeping him hostage there but they made almost no contact with him because they believed he was infectious. The climax of the novel is when Mitty lured them both in the basement because he was “suffering” from smallpox. Little did they know that it was all part of a plan he had. As he was running up the stairs to escape, instead of leaving the basement he locks himself in with the two associates. His plans were to kill himself and them by poisoning each other with carbon monoxide coming from the furnace. In the end Mitty was taken out of the basement by the other associates but he moved quickly and locked them in the basement as well. He called the cops, was brought to a hospital quickly and he actually did not have smallpox. I found this novel believable to a certain extent. For instance the idea of bioterrorism isn’t that difficult to imagine, considering 9/11 and all the panic attacks from before; but the ending
seemed too much like a fairytale. I find it hard to believe that there were no flaws in Mitty’s planning. Secondly the possibility that a century old envelope with scabs could still contain the virus of smallpox. Other than those two points, I would defiantly recommend this book because the plot is intriguing and the language is easy to follow.

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